Dave Smith – comedian, podcaster, and libertarian – debated Chris Cuomo on May 31, 2024. The primary topic of debate was COVID and the information that was being put out by Cuomo during his time at CNN. They also touched on other political topics.
The debate was held by Patrick Bet-David (PBD) on his show. It aired live in front of an audience. Given the feedback from the audience during the debate (laughing, clapping, and a few people shouting things out), you could tell the audience was filled with Dave Smith supporters or those who were more sympathetic to his views.
When Dave talked about the debate on his own show after it happened, he said that Cuomo appeared very uncomfortable going into it. He said Cuomo showed up just before they were set to begin and that his demeanor was quite somber.
It was interesting how much research Cuomo did on Dave going into the debate. He said so during the debate. So, Cuomo knew what to expect, but it didn’t do him much good.
Patrick Bet David was more on Dave’s side, although he was respectful as a moderator and let Cuomo talk. I supposed someone who might defend Cuomo would say it was unfair that the host of the show was more on Dave’s side. But PBD and his crew were there to show clips in real time when something came up. If Cuomo hadn’t lied so much during the debate, maybe that wouldn’t have hurt him so much.
One example is when they were talking about the drug Ivermectin. Cuomo seemed to be denying that he had been making fun of people taking it because it is horse medicine. During the debate, the PBD crew ran a clip of Cuomo and Don Lemon on CNN at the time laughing about taking horse medicine. Cuomo then shifted his tactic and said that he was talking about using the animal version of it and not the human dose.
Cuomo just doubled down on his lying. Dave pointed out that with Joe Rogan’s resources, that it was pretty obvious Joe Rogan was getting his Ivermectin in a human dose from a doctor and not a veterinarian.
It was one thing after another, and Chris Cuomo was taken to school for three hours. I don’t know what he had to gain by doing it, especially since he didn’t flip sides. Cuomo had previously admitted to PBD that he was taking Ivermectin for “long COVID” and he also warned of possible side effects from the vaccines. This is what sparked the whole debate in the first place.
When Cuomo was asked during the debate if he would apologize for some of the bad information he put out during the hysteria of COVID, he refused. He said he didn’t intentionally put out any bad information, and he didn’t have any intent to harm anyone. He also, quite bizarrely, said that Trump never apologizes and that issuing an apology can only hurt you when it comes to politics.
Dave – The Best Person for the Job
Chris Cuomo is one of the main faces of shilling for the establishment during COVID. He was on CNN giving frequent interviews to his brother who was the lockdown governor of New York at the time. Andrew Cuomo was perhaps the worst and most tyrannical of all governors during COVID, and that is saying quite a bit.
This was such a great moment for Dave and really everybody who is still angry at the whole COVID regime for trying to wreck our lives.
I wouldn’t have picked anybody else to go head-to-head with Cuomo other than Dave. He has the unique combination of knowing the issues well, being principled, and being able to deliver his message. I think Dave’s time as a comedian makes him incredibly effective at delivering his message, even when it is a serious message. And in this debate, although Dave had a few funny moments, he was quite serious. He said on his show that he was angry at Cuomo for continuing to lie during the debate.
One Thing I Would Have Addressed and Stressed
With that said, there is one point I would have brought up and emphasized more. Dave exposed Chris Cuomo as a liar, which was perhaps the most important thing.
But even if Cuomo had just gotten some things wrong during COVID and they were innocent mistakes, there is still a major problem. Even if Cuomo had decided to apologize, it would have only been worthy in one instance.
It isn’t just the lying alone that is the problem. It isn’t just getting some things wrong (Cuomo got almost everything wrong on COVID). The problem is that he advocated the use of force to impose this bad information on the whole country.
The government uses force in many ways. Just about everything the government does is backed up by the threat of force. That is what makes it a government. Aside from the taxes collected to fund the likes of Fauci and the three-letter agencies and possibly the gain-of-function that brought us COVID, the funding of the pharmaceutical companies, and the censorship put in place by the government, there were two primary acts of force in play during COVID.
One was the lockdowns, which were technically put in place mostly at the state level, although it was being encouraged at the federal level. The other primary show of force came in 2021 when Biden imposed vaccine mandates on the majority of the working population in order to keep their job.
Cuomo and most of the rest of the establishment media went along with this stuff. In fact, they were essentially advocating it and promoting those who were doing it, such as Chris Cuomo’s brother.
So even if you get something wrong, there is no excuse for ruining people’s lives by advocating government force. If all of these measures had just been recommendations and not mandates, then I don’t think people would be so furious.
If it was just, “Well, COVID turned out to not be as serious as we originally thought and doesn’t impact children much, so I guess we shouldn’t have been so hysterical at the beginning.”, then that would have been fine if there had been no lockdowns and vaccine mandates. If people had been free to get their own information and make their own decisions, then we wouldn’t be where we are today, with a lot of people still rightfully angry at what was done to them and their loved ones.
The advocation of government force is ultimately the main problem. It’s not the only problem. If the government and its media talk about how great the vaccine is and it turns out to not be safe and effective, then that can certainly do a lot of damage and hurt a lot of people. But the mandates are what made it 10 times worse. It is the coercion aspect that makes it so horrible.
So, Chris Cuomo can say that he just got a few things wrong and that the experts got a few things wrong, but this does nothing for me. This just tells me that you have learned nothing and don’t intend to learn anything. Or perhaps it just tells me that Cuomo and the rest of the shills during COVID are immoral people.
The next thing that comes along (climate change, war, whatever), Cuomo won’t stop and say, “You know, I got some things wrong on COVID and advocated government lockdowns and mandates that didn’t turn out so well. Now that we are in a climate crisis, I am going to learn from that and say that the government needs to stay out of it and let people be free. Even if we do have a climate crisis, we shouldn’t take away people’s liberty.”
That’s the problem. He would still advocate the same immoral policies as before. He would just now want to do a better job of getting the “right” information before doing so. But he thought (or pretended to think) that the vaccines were great at the time they were being pushed so hard. If he was wrong then, what’s to prevent him from being wrong again.
Again, the biggest problem is helping the regime in using force against the citizenry. Even if Cuomo does understand some of the mistakes and bad information that was put out during the height of COVID, it does nothing for me or the many millions of people whose lives were turned upside down or who have been vaccine injured. He has not owned the fact that it was immoral to impose lockdowns and mandates on the population.
If Cuomo or anyone else wants to apologize for COVID and have it mean anything, it has to be an apology for advocating the use of force against people. It can’t just be an apology for getting some things wrong.
Conclusion
Thank you, Dave, for being such a great advocate of liberty and taking down one of the bad guys who tried to ruin our lives.
Chris Cuomo looked quite uncomfortable in that chair trying to defend his previous positions. He comes across as someone who wants to be liked by the general public. That puts him in an awkward position now that he is in the world of podcasting and alternative media. He isn’t in his CNN bubble any more.
Dave said on his podcast that Aaron Rodgers approached Dave at an event (I believe it was the next day) and complimented Dave on his performance at the debate.
This debate was as much of a therapy session for people as anything. It also shows that this is still an important issue for people going into the 2024 election. RFK Jr. would be wise to listen.